


Mixed Signals

by JustADumbWriter



Category: Alice Isn't Dead (Podcast), Orbiting Human Circus of the Air (Podcast), Welcome to Night Vale, Within the Wires (Podcast)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-05 05:28:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10298612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustADumbWriter/pseuds/JustADumbWriter
Summary: "Welcome to--""The Orbiting Human Circus (of the Air)!""Bay and Creek Shipping.""The Relaxation Study.""Night Vale..."





	1. Chapter 1

"We zoom in on the top outer railings of the Eiffel Tower, where Julian the Janitor is perched. Though there is a mop tentatively clutched in his fingers, he shows no sign of cleaning. Instead, he is walking-- _VERY CAREFULLY_ \-- between the large metal girders. He puts his ear up to one-- what, exactly are you trying to do?"

Julian flashes the Narrator a smile. 

"If you put your ear up against the metal, you can hear things. The tower picks up radio signals from all over the world depending on which girder. Here, listen."

The girder his ear rests against plays a slow, gentle melody. It soothes him, and he puts a hand to the metal momentarily. 

"Or over here!"

He walks to another, and does the same. This time, upbeat jazz is playing. 

"Or this--" Julian pauses, his ear up to another girder, and frowns. 

He pulls away to look at the metal beam. 

"What's the matter..?" The Narrator presses. 

"This one... This one keeps changing..."

He puts his ear to the girder again, and hears;

"Broadcasting live from the top of the Eiffel Tower--"   
-BZZT-  
"--This isn't a story, it's a road trip--"  
-BZZT-  
"--Listen. Remember. Comprehend--"

There's a long moment of silence, and Julian holds his breath. He makes to pull away from the girder again, before he freezes, suddenly hearing a voice, clearer than any of the other snippets of sound he had picked up.

"Welcome... To Night Vale."


	2. Chapter 2

The bed creaks quietly as The Patient shifts over to her side. She opens a bleary eye, and casts her gaze across the cold and clinical room. She focuses on the heavy metal door opposite her. 

She doesn't know what time of day it is. She lost track of that soon after she arrived at The Institute. She doesn't even really know how long she's been here.   
Days?  
Weeks?  
Months?  
Possibly even... Years?

The handle clicks, and the door creaks open. 

A tall woman dressed in white scrubs appears in the doorframe. She crosses the room to the bed, and stands over it. 

"How are we feeling today?" The Nurse asks, her tone anything by concerned. 

The Patient only responds with a half-hearted groan. She feels too hot, and her limbs are stiff and heavy. 

The Nurse nods slightly, scribbling a note onto the clipboard in her arms. 

"You are sleeping less and less, recently," she comments, though it is more to herself that the figure in the bed.

She presses a hand to The Patient's forehead, and then a finger to her neck. 

"Fever... Elevated pulse... Hm..."

The Patient does not respond. 

The Nurse scrawls something else onto her notes, and looks over the Patient again. 

"I think it will benefit you to begin a relaxation programme," she muses. "I will be along later this evening with the first tape. Now, sit up, it's time for your medication."

\---

The next time the nurse comes in, hours have passed. 

The Patient is sitting up on the edge of her bed, waiting. 

The Nurse hands her a headset and a tape, and makes sure the headphones fit her. She pushes the tape into the player, presses play, and leaves the room. 

As the she watches the door swing shut, the headphones crackle to life. 

The tape begins, and the voice of a man commanding breathing exercises hits her ears. He is counting, then holding, then counting again. He sounds detached and emotionless, almost bored. 

"In, two, three, four, five. Hold, two, three, four, five, six. Out, two, three, four, five--"

The tape is suddenly interrupted by a harsh buzzing and the intense crackling of static. The Patient's hands fly to the headphones, ready to take them off, when suddenly the noise all stops. 

For a moment, there is silence. 

Then faint music begins to drift through the headphones, along with a calm, steady voice. 

"Welcome to the Relaxation Study."


	3. Chapter 3

Large, heavy tyres crunch the gravel beneath them as the monstrous truck pulls up to the warehouse. 

The dark metal walls stand out against the golden sand, like a black hole absorbing all the light and heat into itself. Keisha glances at the doors, and sees two men standing in front of them. There is a notable height difference between them. They have their hands behind their backs, and are wearing black suits and sunglasses. 

Keisha pulls the hand-break and jumps out of the truck. 

She approaches the men, and the shorter one looks her up and down. 

"Bay and Creek shipping?" He asks, though it does not have the tone of a question. 

"Yeah," Keisha replies, and the shorter man turns and nods to his colleague. 

The taller man pulls a lever on the side of the wall, and the large doors creak open. Keisha sees the inside of the wear house is almost entirely empty, except for a small pile of crates in the middle of the floor. 

"Is-- Is this it?" Keisha raises an eyebrow. 

The crates could easily be condensed into the back of a pickup truck. 

"We required your services because our last delivery driver--" The taller man is quickly cut off by the shorter man clearing his throat. 

"It is unimportant," he replies curtly. 

"Okay..." Keisha nods, deciding not to push the issue further. "Guess I'll start loading up, then."

\---

It takes her no more than half an hour to load all of the crates into the back of the truck. 

The crates themselves have something... off about them. They're slightly warm to the touch when Keisha picks them up, and she swears one of them makes a soft ticking sound. She stares at the delivery for a moment, curiosity spiking her mind. She could easily open one of the crates, just to see what's inside. 

But, for some reason unknown to even her, she does not. 

She shakes her head, closing the doors of the truck, and walks out of the warehouse to let the two men know she's finished. 

However, they are nowhere to be seen. 

Keisha feels the hair on the back of her neck stand up. A feeling of unease shoots through her like an electric pulse, and her heart begins to beat a little faster. She feels herself tense. 

Something about this place is... Wrong. 

She doesn't know what it is, and she is in no hurry to find out. Quickly climbing into the truck, Keisha fumbles with her keys. She jams them into the ignition and sets off, not even sparing a glance behind her. 

She drives, keeping her eyes ahead, until she's back on the main road. The feeling of unease begins to ebb, and she sighs. 

She needs a distraction. Something to calm her. She picks up her communications radio, and clicks the button. 

"Alice, I..."


	4. Chapter 4

"So, how was the show today?" 

Coco and Julian are wandering down a corridor of the tower. The bells have just chimed past midnight, and they've finished talking about their respective days. 

"The show-- Oh my gosh, I missed the whole thing, actually!" Julian laughs sheepishly. 

Coco stares at Julian, eyes wide. 

"Are you feeling okay?!" He presses his hand to Julian's forehead. "You don't seem to be running a fever, but--"

Julian brushes his hand off, and Coco laughs. 

"Oh come on! I'm fine! I just... Uh... Caught another show instead."

"Another show?!" Coco mock-gasps. "What's it about?"

"Well," Julian lights up, "It all takes place in a town called Night Vale..."

\---

"Now, listeners," Cecil drawls absentmindedly, stirring a cup of coffee as he talks into the microphone. "My boyfri-- Oh! My husband-- Ah... What a word, listeners! The pure ecstasy that simple term which I can now use for Carlos-- my Husband, Carlos, has been studying our town's atmosphere lately. He said to me that he has found a large increase in electromagnetic activity. 

"Now, I don't know exactly what that means, but according to what Carlos said, I would be careful when using any phones, computers, or other-worldly communication technology today.

"I've also been instructed to warn all listeners that a sand storm is set to arrive in Night Vale in the next few days. The city council released this information in a statement, saying they 'thought they would let us know as soon as possible, considering what happened... last time'.

"So, listeners, collect supplies of food, water, and blood, and prepare your houses and selves for this storm. We'll keep you updated...

"And now, the weather."


	5. Chapter 5

"Listen. Remember. _Comprehend._ "

The Patient lies on her back, staring vacantly at the ceiling, as her mind repeats the lines from the cassette over and over again. 

'Why am I here?'

It's a question she has turned over in her mind again and again. Of course she has, wouldn't anyone? When someone's life is uprooted and changed so suddenly it is only natural to wonder why. 

She blinks, and her eyes burn. 

It's late. She knows this because the lights have been off for a while now. The Patient turns onto her side, eyes resting on the familiar metal door. She thinks back to the cryptic instructions during the visualisation exercise. The fifth door. 

She feels her breathing become shallower, and her pulse elevate. She feels physically tired, but her mind is racing. She envisions the doors. She envisions herself. 

She has been treated like an insect. Her wings have been ripped off and her body has been dismantled, but it has not been in the name of beauty. She has grown tired and less compelled, but now she feels a growing determination within her, and a single thought burns in her mind. 

'I don't know why I'm here... But I'm going to get out.'


End file.
